Following the pay-per-view event in which Henderson earned the UFC belt with a unanimous-decision win over Frankie Edgar and Pettis scored a highlight-reel finish of Joe Lauzon, UFC president Dana White suggested that was the likely plan.

“I think he’s going to get it,” White said when asked if Pettis had earn a shot at the belt.

UFC 144 took place at Saitama Super Arena, and the event’s main card aired in the U.S. on pay-per-view.

Henderson and Pettis have a well-documented history, of course. The two met in December 2010’s WEC 53 event, the final fight card in that promotion’s history, and “Showtime” used a fifth-round kick off the cage to score a unanimous-decision win and take the belt from Henderson.

Pettis was then supposed to face then-UFC champ Edgar for the belt, but a rare championship draw forced “Showtime” to the sidelines while the champ rematched Gray Maynard. During that span, Pettis lost to Clay Guida, putting his championship aspirations on hold.

Meanwhile, Nate Diaz and Jim Miller meet in the main event of May’s UFC on FOX 3 event, and many MMA pundits had that contest pegged as a No. 1 contender fight.

White declined to speculate on how the whole scenario will play out.

“We’ll see what happens,” White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I hate to do this the night of the fights, and you guys know that, but you always ask me.

“We’ll see what happens. I guess I’ll leave you guys in suspense.”

When Edgar was informed of the potential plans, he admitted he was disappointed.

“I’m not trying to shoot anybody out of anything they deserve, but I had to do two immediate rematches, so what’s fair?” Edgar asked.

Unsurprisingly, Pettis was a bit more upbeat in regards to the revelation.

“I was supposed to get a title shot last year,” Pettis said. “We’ve got some unfinished business. Let’s take care of it.”

For the latest on UFC 144, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.
(Pictured: Benson Henderson)

The Latest

Since the early days when the sport was anything but a mainstream endeavor, the MMA industry has thrived and survived through various websites, forums and, perhaps most importantly, social-media platforms.

In this week’s Trading Shots, Danny Downes and Ben Fowlkes look at Ronda Rousey’s 34-second victory over Bethe Correia at UFC 190 and try to put it into terms that capture the moment without getting swept away by it.

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?